Just as an FYI, we're not allowed to call it "Heimlich" anymore. Its the "J-Thrust" or abdominal thrusts now. Copyright issues.

Please please please do NOT pound someone on the back unless they are bent over or are upside down (like a kiddo) I nearly died when someone did that to me. Keep in mind that if adults are coughing, they are getting air and do not yet need you to do anything yet. Kids need us to help because they can panic more quickly. Another vote for learning what to do in crisis situations.

Yes, please, please don't pound an adult on the back who is coughing. I had chronic, episodic bronchitis since I was very young. When I am having a coughing fit, I really don't want someone pounding on my back. People do it all the time to be helpful. It isn't. But, you could ask if they would like some water

Sometimes I just got a drop of saliva down my windpipe.

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May you live as long as you wish and love as long as you live.
Robert A. Heinlein

sprout, ypu must have been terrified. i would have been crying afterwards as well. not only from the obvious, but what dw would have done to me, lol.

i remember we couldn't get my son to eat meat at around two years old. no matter how soft it was, or how small we cut it, he would just chew it, and chew it, and suck on it and chew it until it was a small grey mass in his mouth that he would eventually spit out. i was always so scared that he'd choke on that grey ball o' meat (a delicacy in north wales...lol. hey, where's bolas?) .

one day when i'd made the softest and most moist meaty thing i could think of, veal cubes and peppers with a side of ziti in tomato sauce, i saw him eat everything seperately, downing the peppers and ziti, but chewing and chewing the extremely tender and fatty veal.
so i got a brilliant idea. thinking canneloni, except on a kiddie scale, i mashed the veal and peppers together and stuffed them into the tiny ziti each adroitly by hand.

he loved it! and i got him to ingest meat!

it also made me realize that at that age, texture is a large part of the ballgame. new teeth and learning to use your tongue to move things around is a motor skill that is learned just like walking. once they get it, it's easy street after that, with constant guidance of course.

with other foods like grapes, hard candies, and such, i will always remember my dad warning us as kids and again as parents that any food that is shaped as if it can form a plug in the esophagus shpuld be avoided at all costs. all the way until a child becomes a teenager, and again when teeth are fake and there's snow on the roof, if you know what i mean.

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The next time someone asks what you did this past weekend, squint really hard and say, "Why, what did you hear?"

sprout, ypu must have been terrified. i would have been crying afterwards as well. not only from the obvious, but what dw would have done to me, lol.

i remember we couldn't get my son to eat meat at around two years old. no matter how soft it was, or how small we cut it, he would just chew it, and chew it, and suck on it and chew it until it was a small grey mass in his mouth that he would eventually spit out. i was always so scared that he'd choke on that grey ball o' meat (a delicacy in north wales...lol. hey, where's bolas?) .

one day when i'd made the softest and most moist meaty thing i could think of, veal cubes and peppers with a side of ziti in tomato sauce, i saw him eat everything seperately, downing the peppers and ziti, but chewing and chewing the extremely tender and fatty veal.
so i got a brilliant idea. thinking canneloni, except on a kiddie scale, i mashed the veal and peppers together and stuffed them into the tiny ziti each adroitly by hand.

he loved it! and i got him to ingest meat!

it also made me realize that at that age, texture is a large part of the ballgame. new teeth and learning to use your tongue to move things around is a motor skill that is learned just like walking. once they get it, it's easy street after that, with constant guidance of course.

with other foods like grapes, hard candies, and such, i will always remember my dad warning us as kids and again as parents that any food that is shaped as if it can form a plug in the esophagus shpuld be avoided at all costs. all the way until a child becomes a teenager, and again when teeth are fake and there's snow on the roof, if you know what i mean.

Good point BT...false teeth are most times held in by suction...to create that suction while chewing...you suck in. If food isn't chewed enough or isn't small enough...you can end up inhaling your food.

I got a hard candy in the wrong spot in my mouth yesterday and down it went. Luckily, it was small enough it just went down, no worse than a fish oil capsule.

__________________“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” - Albert Einstein

I was very grateful that I had taken child & infant CPR/First Aid. Even though I didn't have to use it, just knowing exactly what to do if I needed to kept me from panicking through the whole ordeal. I still keep the laminated folded poster that show the steps for children, infants, and adults on our book shelf right next to the dining room table just in case I panic and forget something. I agree, it should be a requirement for graduation. As my daughter gets old enough, before I allow her to babysit any one else's children (or leave her alone with ours if we have any small children by that time) she will be expected to complete a child/infant CPR class. I remember last fall, when I was thinking about nannying, seeing ads that said "CPR/First Aid training preferred." I think if I was going to pay someone to regularly watch my child, I would require it. I did have one concern though, and I wonder if anyone here knows the answer. At what point (size, weight, etc.) do you start using the child Heimlich instead of the infant? I can't find it on the poster or the booklet I have. Anyone know?

__________________Always try to bring a spare set of clothing when you dream about going to work or school. That way, if you encounter someone having that dream where they show up in their underwear, you'll be their hero.

I was very grateful that I had taken child & infant CPR/First Aid. Even though I didn't have to use it, just knowing exactly what to do if I needed to kept me from panicking through the whole ordeal. I still keep the laminated folded poster that show the steps for children, infants, and adults on our book shelf right next to the dining room table just in case I panic and forget something. I agree, it should be a requirement for graduation. As my daughter gets old enough, before I allow her to babysit any one else's children (or leave her alone with ours if we have any small children by that time) she will be expected to complete a child/infant CPR class. I remember last fall, when I was thinking about nannying, seeing ads that said "CPR/First Aid training preferred." I think if I was going to pay someone to regularly watch my child, I would require it. I did have one concern though, and I wonder if anyone here knows the answer. At what point (size, weight, etc.) do you start using the child Heimlich instead of the infant? I can't find it on the poster or the booklet I have. Anyone know?

At about 20 pounds, when it's difficult to hold them head down because of their weight. Don't want to drop the kiddos on their heads. If you can get them head down on your leg, with your leg stretched out, you can use that until they are 30-40 pounds.

__________________“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” - Albert Einstein

At about 20 pounds, when it's difficult to hold them head down because of their weight. Don't want to drop the kiddos on their heads. If you can get them head down on your leg, with your leg stretched out, you can use that until they are 30-40 pounds.

Thank you!

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__________________Always try to bring a spare set of clothing when you dream about going to work or school. That way, if you encounter someone having that dream where they show up in their underwear, you'll be their hero.